V-f 

UNIVERSITY  OF  C  A  I. IPO 
SANTA  BARBARA 


REMARKS 

i 

OP 

MR.  SIMMONS,  OF  RHODE  ISLAND, 

IN  SUPPORT  OF  HIS  PROPOSITION  TO 

f 

REDUCE  POSTAGES  TO  A  UNIFORM  RATE  OF  FIVE  CENTS  FOR  A  SINGLE 
LETTER,  FOR  ALL  DISTANCES. 


Delivered  in  Senate  of  the  United  States,  Thursday,  February  6th,  1845. 


Mr.  PRESIDENT  :  Exhausted,  as  I  know  the  members  of  the  Senate  are, 
by  the  discussion  of  the  numberless  propositions  to  amend  the  bill  before  us 
which  have  been  presented,  I  must,  nevertheless,  beg  their  attention  for  a 
few  moments  to  the  one  I  have  offered.  I  do  this  from  a  belief  that  in  the 
fate  of  this  proposition  is  involved  the  success  of  all  plans  of  reducing  post- 
ages to  a  rate  satisfactory  to  the  people,  without  throwing  this  department  of 
the  public  service  upon  the  general  Treasury  for  permanent  support. 

All  agree  that  the  income  of  the  Post  Office  Department  is  at  present  in- 
adequate, and  js  annually  diminishing ;  something  must  therefore  be  done, 
or  its  efficiency  will  be  gone. 

In  order  to  sustain  it,  we  must  change  the  present  rates  of  postage,  or 
make  immediate  and  annual  appropriations  from  the  Treasury.  A  convic- 
tion of  this  fact,  induced  your  committee  to  present  the  bill  before  us.  That 
bill  proposes  to  reduce  the  rates  of  letter  postage  to  five  cents  for  distances 
under  one  hundred  miles,  and  to  ten  cents  for  greater  distances.  The  amend- 
ment now  pending,  proposes  a  uniform  rate  for  all  distances  of  five  cents. 

One  question  presented  is,  whether  or  not  the  reduction  to  ten  cents  for 
ances  over  one  hundred  miles,  will  remove  one  of  the  difficulties  in  our 
way,  which  is  the  interference  of  private  mails  or  expresses  in  the  business 
of  letter-carrying,  and  the  consequent  reduction  of  our  receipts. 

The  chairman  of  the  committee  has,  in  very  able  and  repeated  argu- 
ments, endeavored  to  prove  that  this  rate  of  ten  cents  would  insure  sufficient 
revenue,  if  interference  by  private  carriers  can  be  prevented,  and  also  to  con- 

J.  &  G,  8,  Gideon,  primers- 


vince  us  that  the  penal  enactments  contained  in  the  bill  will  accomplish  this 
last  object.  In  this  I  am  constrained  to  disagree  with  him.  I  have  no  faith 
in  the  sentiment  that  you  can  prevent  the  people  of  this  country  from  em- 
ploying such  oT  their  own  citizens  as  will  do  their  work  the  cheapest,  by  a 
system  of  prosecutions  such  as  this  bill  contemplates ;  and  I  should  have  no 
favor  for  it,  if  I  thought  it  would  produce  that  result. 

I  believe  the  right,  and  the  only  practicable  way  to  command  business 
sufficient  to  support  the  Post  Office  Department,  is  to  do  it  better  and  cheaper 
than  individuals  can.  This  the  Government  can  afford  to  do,  and  is  in  my 
judgment  bound  to  do.  The  power  to  establish  a  mail  was  conferred  on  the 
Government  in  this  expectation,  and  for  this  purpose.  .It  was  not  given  to 
enable  the  Government  to  make  exorbitant  charges  for  the  service,  much 
less  to  enable  it  to  enforce  a  compliance  with  them  if  made.  I  think  the 
existing  charges  for  letter-carrying  are  of  this  character ;  and  I  am  not  dis- 
posed to  denounce  all  who  afford,  or  who  employ,  other  means  of  communi- 
cation than  the  United  States  mail.  I  believe  that  the  rate  in  the  bill  before 
•us,  of  ten  cents,  is  too  high,  and  therefore  will  fail  to  accomplish  the  object 
desired  and  intended.  This  will  be  apparent  to  the  Senate  from  a  single 
•and  simple  illustration.  It  requires  as  much  as,  or  more,  to  be  paid  for  the 
carriage  of  a  letter  from  Albany  to  New  York,  than  the  ordinary  freight  of 
a  barrel  of  flour  by  the  same  channel  of  communication.  The  disparity  in 
the  serviee  is  so  obvious,  that  you  cannot  prevent  or  control  the  opinion  that 
such  a  charge  is  unreasonable;  and  if  you  pass  the  bill  with  this  high  rate, 
the  people  will  continue  to  remonstrate  and  petition  for  reduction.  If  fur- 
ther reduction  is  refused,  they  will,  in  greater  numbers  than  £t  present,  leave 
your  mail  and  seek  other  modes  of  conveyance.  They  may  regret  this,  but 
they  will  submit  to  "  the  necessity  that  impels  them  to  the  separation."  No 
man  can  expect  any  thing  else  who  knows  the  history,  or  can  appreciate  the 
character  of  this  people. 

The  Post  Office  Department  is  at  present  without  adequate  means,  be- 
cause it  has  not  the  public  opinion  in  its  favor.  This  will*  continue  as  long 
as  the  cause  of  it  is  allowed  to  remain  ;  and  after  the  passage  of  this  bill,  as 
well  as  now,  unless  our  postage  is  as  low  as  that  of  individual  carriers. 
object  should  be  to  regain  the  good  opinion  and  business  of  the  public 
do  this,  we  must  meet  their  wishes  so  often  expressed  in  petitions  and  reso- 
lutions from  State  legislatures.  Does  any  one  doubt  that,  with  the  reduc- 
tion to  five  cents  proposed  in  the  amendment,  the  United  States  mail  will 
have  the  letter-carrying  of  the  country?  It  is  a  little  less  than  is  charged  by 


competitors ;  and  there  are  other  advantages  that  would  give  the  regular 
mail  the  preference  at  the  rates  charged  by  others. 

The  Senator  from  Pennsylvania  said  yesterday  that  he  was  in  favor  of 
jow  postage,  but  was  for  a  prudent  course,  and  was  opposed  to  a  greater  re- 
duction than  to  ten  cents  at  one  step.  It  appears  to  me  that  this  is  a  caste 
where  a  bold  step  is  the  only  one  which  can  be  successful.  A  prudent  course 
demands  an  effectual  reduction — one  that  will  secure  the  business  to  our 
mail.  Can  we  hope  to  do  this  by  reducing  our  charge  for  letter-carrying 
from  three-fold,  as  it  now  is,  to  double  the  rates  charged  by  our  competitors, 
as  he  proposes  ?  Individuals  have  not  succeeded  in  taking  the  business  from 
the  mail  by  such  a  course  ;  they  underbid  to  get  business,  and  do  the  same 
to  regain  it  when  lost.  It  is  a  new  idea  that  this  may  be  easier  done  by  a 
prosecution  for  penalties,  as  this  bill  contemplates.  Nobody  should  expect 
to  succeed  in  getting  custom  for  the  mail  by  prosecuting-  or  persecuting  the 
people  whose  support  it  wants.  There  are  obvious  reasons  against  trying 
such  an  experiment. 

The  only  objection  to  a  reduction  which  all  admit  will  secure  the  business, 
is,  that  it  will  throw  the  Department  on  the  Treasury  for  support.  Those  who 
urge  this,  are  forced  to  confess  that  it  don't  support  itself  now,  that  its  reve- 
nues diminish  annually,  and  that  a  reduction  which  shall  not  secure  the 
business  will  still  more  embarrass  it ;  therefore,  with  no  reduction,  or  with 
but  an  inadequate  one,  the  Department  must  be  supported  from  the  Treasury, 
if  sustained  at  all.  To  persist  then  in  our  present  system,  or  to  make  but  a 
partial  reduction,  will  accomplish  none  of  the  objects  which  we  desire  and 
propose.  We  shall  neither  satisfy  the  public,  nor  relieve  the  Treasury. 

The  reduction  which  I  propose,  will  certainly  accomplish  one  of  them. 
It  will  satisfy  the  public  and  regain  the  business.  Of  this  there  can  be  no 
doubt,  for  all  the  petitions  and  resolutions  before  us  ask  for  reduction,  and 
very  many  of  them  for  a  uniform  rate  of  postage.  Whether  or  not,  it  will 
also  accomplish  the  other  object,  that  of  obtaining  sufficient  revenue  to  sus- 
tain the  Department,  cannot  be  seen  so  clearly  beforehand.  Itmustremain 
to  be  proved  by  trial.  But  we  are  not  without  the  means  of  forming  an 
ojjinion  upon  this  branch  of  the  subject.  These  means  are  afforded  us,  by 
1  of  low  postage  in  England,  and  upon  this  experiment  I  rely  for  a 
demonstration  that  the  proposed  reduction  to  five  cents  will  enable  the  De- 
partment eventually  to  sustain  itself,  without  aid  from  the  Treasury. 


By  the  report  of  our  Postmaster  General  upon  this  subject,  it  appears  : — 
That  the  annual  income  of  the  Post  Office  of  England,  is  in 

round  numbers,  (in  dollars,)  -     $7,860,204 

From  which  I  deduct  the  postage  received  upon  foreign  letters, 
the  expense  of  these  being  paid  for  by  the  Admiralty  on  about 
seven  millions  letters,  at  the  usual  rate  of  postage  of  one 
shilling  and  4tf.  is  -  -  .$1,990,311 


Leaving  for  the  income  on  inland  postage     -  .    $5,869,893 

The  expenses  of  the  Department  are  -  -       4,739,129 


Showing  an  annual  profit  from  a  penny  rate  of  postage,  which 

is  the  present  English  rate  for  all  distances,  of  -     $1,130,664 

This  is  the  result  in,England,  where  the  cost  of  the  Department  is  great- 
er than  ours,  taken  from  facts  officially  before  us. 

This  result  in  England  leads  us  very  naturally  to  enquire,  if  similar  re- 
sults are  not  to  be  expected  from  a  reduction  of  postage  in  this  country. 
To  ascertain  this,  we  must  institute  a  comparison  between  our  Department 
and  theirs. 

The  expenses  of  our  Post  Office  Department  are  about  $4,250,000 

In  this  is  included  the  cost  of  transporting  public  documents  and 
other  printed  matter  for  the  various  Departments  and  for  Con- 
gress, making  at  least  -  250,000 


Leaving  for  the  expense  incurred  in  the  service  of  the  people 

generally     -  -  -  -  -  -  -  $4,000,000 


If  the  same  results  accompanied  a  reduction  of  postage  in  this  country  as 
in  England,  would  the  postage  received  defray  the  expenses  of  the  De- 
partment? This  is  a  question  of  arithmetic,  and  is  easily  answered. 

If  a  population  of  twenty-eight  millions  (that  of  England,)  at  a  penny 
postage  for  all  distances,  yields  a  revenue  of  $5,868,892,  what  will  a  popu- 
lation of  twenty  millions  (that  of  the  United  States,)  yield  at  the  same  rate  ? 
The  answer  is  $4,192,780 — this  gives  a  sum  greater  than  is  needed  to  r 
expense  by  near  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  at  a  penny  Stirling,  or  two  cent 
rate  of  postage.  A  single  other  consideration  once  satisfactorily  settled,  and  all 
difficulty  will  disappear.  Do  the  motives  for  extensive  correspondence  exist 
to  the  same  extent  in  this  country,  as  in  England  ?  This  inquiry  involves 
an  extensive  range  of  subjects — such  as  the  general  character  of  the  two  peo- 
ple, their  habits,  education,  business,  intercourse,  ability  from  the  general  dis- 


5 

tribution  of  means,  tfcc.,  some  of  which  I  have  taken  pains  to  examine,  but 
none  of  which  do  I  propose  to  trouble  the  Senate  with,  because  we  have 
facts  for  our  guidance  upon  this,  as  well  as  the  preceding  branch  of  the  sub- 
ject, a  trial  in  both  countries  instead  of  one.  The  returns  of  the  number  of 
paying  letters  which  passed  through  the  mail  in  this  country  in  1836,  (before 
private  mails  interfered,)  was  about  thirty  millions.  The  number  of  free 
letters  is  about  three  millions,  making  thirty-three  millions.  Our  population 
may  be  stated  to  have  been  at  that  period  fifteen  millions.  Then,  if  a  popu- 
lation of  fifteen  millions  under  a  high  rate  of  postage,  send  thirty-three  mil- 
lions of  letters,  what  would  be  an  equal  portion  for  a  population  of  twenty- 
eight  millions  of  people  ?  The  answer  is,  sixty-two  millions.  This  agrees 
within  a  fraction  of  the  number  sent  in  England,  as  we  are  informed. 

This  examination  establishes  these  two  propositions.  First,  that  when  the 
rates  of  postage  were  high  in  both  countries,  the  correspondence  was  as  great 
here  as  in  England,  according  to  the  number  of  people,  the  number  of 
letters  in  each  country  being  the  same  in  proportion  to  their  respective 
population.  Second,  that  if  a  reduction  of  postage  to  two  cents  in  this 
country  should  increase  correspondence  and  the  business  of  our  mail  in  the 
same  ratio  that  a  reduction  to  a  penny  sterling  has  increased  that  of  En- 
gland, we  could  pay  the  expenses  of  the  Department  at  the  reduced  rate, 
(of  two  cents,)  and  have  an  annual  surplus  of  two  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars. So  confident  am  I,  that  like  causes  produce  like  results,  that  I  for  one 
would  not  hesitate  to  make  the  reduction  at  once  tu  two  cents,  if  I  could  be 
assured  of  as  fair  a  trial,  and  for  the  same  time  (five  years,)  as  in  England, 
and  without  a  doubt  of  the  same  result.  But  the  amendment  offered  does 
not  propose  so  large  a  reduction ;  (with  the  present  views  of  Senators,  it 
would  be  useless  to  offer  such  a  proposition  ;)  I  do  not,  therefore,  expect  so 
great  an  increase  in  the  correspondence  here,  as  has  taken  place  in  England  j 
although  I  believe,  that  we  have  all  the  same  strong  motives  for  it,  if  the 
same  time  and  circumstances  were  given  to  bring  them  into  action.  But  I 
do  expect  a  sufficient  increase  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  Department,  in 
e  than  has  transpired  in  England.  The  increase  necessary  to  effect 
ot  so  great  as  many  seem  to  suppose ;  it  is  but  about  one-sixth  the 
increase  which  has  taken  place  in  Great  Britain,  provided  we  secure  to  the 
United  States  mail  the  carriage  of  letters,  of  which  no  one  can  doubt. 

It  has  been  already  stated,  that  to  meet  expenses,  there  must  be  collected 
from  letters  and  printed  matter  four  millions  of  dollars  annually.  We  have 
received  heretofore  half  a  million  only  from  newspapers,  &c. ;  which  leaves 
three  and  a  half  millions  to  be  supplied  by  letter  postage.  From  the  re- 


ported  speech  of  the  chairman,  (from  which  many  of  the  facts  I  rely  upon 
are  taken,)  it  appears  that  the  number  of  letters  which  would  now  pass 
through  the  post  office,  according  to  the  number  paying  postage  in  1836, 
with  our  present  population,  is  forty-two  millions.  Add  to  this  those  which 
have  heretofore  gone  free,  and  are  now  to  be  paid  for  by  the  different  de- 
partments, (fee.,  viz  :  three  millions,  and  we  have  forty-five  millions  without 
any  increase  from  reduced  rates  of  pestage. 

It  requires  an  increase  upon  this  number,  of  little  more  than  fifty  per 
cent.,  to  give  seventy  millions  ;  which,  at  five  cents,  will  yield  the  amount 
required,  three  and  a  half  millions. 

The  increase  from  the  reduction  in  England  has  been  about  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  per  cent.  Can  there  be  reasonable  doubt  that  the  increase 
will  be  one-sixth  as  great  here  as  it  has  been  there,  from  a  similar  cause? 

In  the  correctness  of  all  the  data  on  which  these  estimates  are  made,  I 
have  the  admission  of  the  honorable  Senator  from  Maryland,  chairman  of 
the  committee,  who  also  yields  his  assent  to  the  fairness  of  the  conclusions 
resulting  from  them ;  but  he  does  not  agree  to  the  amendment  from  an 
over  caution.  This,  I  think,  will  be  destructive,  if  the  amendment  should 
not  prevail.  There  are  other  facts  presented  by  our  returns,  which  should 
give  confidence  of  greatly  increased  correspondence  among  our  people  with 
low  postage.  I  refer  to  the  number  of  letters  which  passed  through  the 
mail  the  last  year,  at  the  two  lowest  rates  .of  postage,  embracing  letters  car- 
ried not  exceeding  eighty  miles. 

An  examination  will  show  that,  as  the  number  of  square  miles  embraced 
in  a  circle,  with  a  diameter  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles,  bears  to  the 
square  miles  in  the  inhabited  parts  of  the  United  States,  so  is  the  proportion 
of  those  who  can  correspond  at  the  two  lowest  rates  of  postage,  to  the  whole 
number  of  persons  in  the  country;  estimating  the  number  as  if  equally  dis- 
tributed over  those  parts  of  the  country  which  are  settled,  and  have  mail 
accommodation. 

For,  as  these  circuits  surround  every  one  of  the  fourteen  thousand  post 
offices  in  the  country,  those  containing  the  people  who  can 
with  each  other  by  letter,  at  the  low  rate  of  postage, 
sparsely  as  well  as  thickly  settled  portions  of  the  country,  and  make,  in  the 
aggregate,  an  average  of  about  twenty-five  to  the  square  mile. 

The  two  lowest  rates  include  letters  sent  not  exceeding  eighty  miles,  and 
embracing,  at  any  and  every  post  office,  all  within  a  circuit  of  that  distance^ 
or  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  in  diameter,  and  containing  an  area  of  less 
than  twenty  thousand  square  miles;  which,  at  twenty -five  to  the  mile,  con- 


tains  a  population  of  half  a  million — being,  of  a  population  of  twenty  mil- 
liens,  one-fortieth  part.  So  that,  for  every  person  who  can  be  corresponded 
with,  at  these  two  low  rates  of  postage,  there  are  forty  who  cannot.  Yet  we 
find  by  the  returns  that  there  are  annually  transmitted  through  the  mails 
about  ten  millions  of  letters  at  these  two  low  rates  of  postage,  which  would 
give  four  hundred  million  for  the  whole  country,  if  the  correspondence  were 
as  active  among  all  our  people  as  with  those  liying  within  the  distance  of 
80  miles.  This  is  nearly  double  the  number  of  those  which  pass  through 
the  mail  in  Great  Britain.' 

This  exposition  at  once  indicates  the  obstacles  which  prevent  active  cor- 
respondence among  our  citizens.  They  are  distance  and  expense ;  and 
these,  combined.  How  far  each,  of  itself,  forms  an  obstacle,  we  have  no 
means  to  ascertain.  We  have  seen  the  effect  in  England  of  reducing  the 
expense  in  the  exhibits  presented — the  ingenuity  of  man  has  not  yet  over- 
come the  other,  but  is  fast  approaching  it.  We  have  it  in  our  power  to  re- 
move one  of  the  obstacles  here,  and  place  our  people  in  as  favorable  a  posi- 
tion, in  respect  to  the  expense,  as  others.  The  amendment  proposes  an  ap- 
proach to  it.  It  must,  of  course,  be  borne  in  mind,  that  distance  is  and  will 
continue  a  great  obstacle  to  correspondence.  People  have  not  the  same  ac- 
quaintance with  their  fellow-countrymen  living  remotely,  as  with  those  who 
are  near  them,  and,  therefore,  have  not  the  same  occasion  for  correspondence. 
The  same  is  true  in  England,  where  letters  have  so  greatly  increased  by  re- 
ducing postage.  And  although  it  would  not  be  to  the  same  extent  there, 
under  similar  circumstances,  the  country  not  covering  so  great  a  surface, 
yet  the  f  ifference  in  this  respect  is  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  differ- 
ence in  the  habits  of  the  two  people.  There,  the  population  is  more  fixed 
— the  people  are  born,  brought  up,  and  die,  without  scarcely  leaving  the 
small  tract  of  land  they  cultivate.  Here,  it  is  quite  different.  Parents  are 
now  living,  whose  children  were  the  pioneer  s°ttlers  of  the  West,  where  States 
have  grown  up,  teeming  with  millions,  and  outnumbering  the  "  Old  Thir- 
teen." The  intimate  relations  between  such  a  people  will  produce  a  greater 
correspondence,  according  to  their  numbers,  than  among  those  brought  into 
(comparison — a  circumstance  which  should  give  confidence  irf'our  ex- 
pectations of  an  increased  correspondence. 

There  are  various  other  points  of  view  in  which  this  question  has  pre- 
senter^itself,  which  have  been  equally  convincing,  that  a  reduction  to  this 
point  is  safest  in  reference  to  the  ultimate  ability  of  the  Department  to  sus- 
tain itself. 

But,  sir,  suppose  I  am  mistaken  in  all  these  estimates — suppose  that  no 

-        v          ,' 


8 

increase  takes  place  in  the  letter  correspondence  of  the  country,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  reduction  of  postage ;  that  some  fifty  or  sixty  millions  of  let- 
ters is  all  that  will  be  written,  whatever  be  the  rate  of  postage.  What  is  it 
our  duty  to  do  upon  that  supposition  ?  We  certainly  should  endeavor  to 
carry  what  are  written.  If  we  do  not,  the  establishment  will  devolve  on  the 
Treasury  for  nearly  the  whole  of  its  expenses,  or  it  must  go  down  entirely. 
Letter-carrying  is  the  only  portion  of  its  business  that  pays  cost  now  ;  and  this 
will  be  profitable  at  the  rate  proposed.  Prudence,  therefore,  dictates  that  we 
should  secure  the  carriage  of  these.  Can  you  expect  to  do  this  and  retain  the 
rate  of  ten  cents,  now  proposed  to  be  stricken  out  ? 

Three-fourths  the  letters  now  carried  in  the  mail,  within  distances  subject 
to  this  ten  cent  rate,  by  the  present  bill,  can  be,  are  offered  to  be,  and  are,  carried 
by  private  mails  at  six  cents.  Can  you  hope  to  regain  the  business,  and  charge 
nearly  double  ?  Do  you  expect  to  induce  people  to  patronize  your  mail  by 
commencing  prosecutions  against  them?  If  an  individual  should  propose 
to  do  any  such  thing,  he  would  be  thought  a  fit  subject  for  a  mad-house. 
Why  should  the  Government  charge  more  than  others,  for  doing  such  ser- 
vice? I  agree  that  the  Government  should  have  the  preference,  at  a  fair 
price,  and  insist  that  it  can  afford  to  carry  cheaper  than  individuals. 

A  brief  examination  of  the  elements  of  cost  to  this  Department  will  ena- 
ble us  to  judge  with  more  accuracy  as  to  the  propriety  of  different  rates  of 
postage. 

The  cost  of  the  mail  service  of  the  United  States  is,  in  round  numbers, 
four  and  a  quarter  millions  of  dollars — estimated  at  one-fourth  of  a  million 
for  the  service  done  for  the  various  departments  of  Government,  and  four 
millions  for  that  done  for  the  people  generally. 

This  four  millions  is  made  up  of  the  cost  of  office-service  one  million, 
and  for  transportation  three  millions.  There  is  carried  in  the  mail  'about 
thirty  millions  of  letters,  and  about  fifty-six  millions  of  newspapers,  pam- 
phlets, magazines,  &c.  Suppose  we  divide  the  expense  for  office  service 
equally  between  the  letters  and  printed  matter,  and  the  transportation,  ac- 
cording to  the  amount  of  each,  carried  in  the  mail.  It  costs  an  average  of 
about  sixfoents  per  pound  for  transportation  in  the  mails.  The  account 
stand  thus : — 
Expense  of  transporting  thirty  millions  letters,  at  a  weight  of  one-third  of 

an  ounce  each,  making  five-eighths  of  a  million  pounds,  at  six^cents 

perlb.,is       -  $375,00000 

Add  half  the  expense  of  office  service,  which  is  500,000  00 


Making,  for  office  service  and  transportation,       -  $875,000  00 


Expense  for  the  transportation'of  fifty-six  millions  newspapers, 
pamphlets,  &c. ,  at  an  average  weight  of  one  and  a  quarter 
ounces  each,  making  four  and  three-eighths  million  Ibs.,  at 
six*ents,  amounts  to  $2,625,000  00 

Add  naif  the  expense  of  office  service,  -  500,000  00 

3,125,000  00 


In  all,   -  -       $4,000,000  00 

The  receipts  of  the  Department  are — 
For  postage  on  letters,  (exceeds,) 
"          on  printed  matter,     - 


These  are  about  the  sums  in  round  numbers  ;  and  they  show  that  the  let- 
ters yield  a  profit  of  400  per  cent.,  and  that  the  expense  of  carrying  the 
printed  matter  is  625  per  cent,  greater  than  we  receive  for  it ;  furnishing 
proof  that  the  charge  for  letter  postage  is  twenty-five  fold  greater  in  propor- 
tion than  for  newspapers,  pamphlets,  &c. :  an  inequality  and  injustice  which 
should  create  astonishment  that  it  is  submitted  to  at  all,  rather  than  that  it  is 
complained  of  so  much  by  the  people. 

This  is  a  view  which  should  surprise  us  that  any  portion  of  the  letter  car- 
riage is  retained,  rather  than  that  so  much  of  it  goes  by  private  expresses, 
who  can  carry  for  half  our  charges,  and  then  make  a  profit  of  two  hundred 
per  cent. 

Take  a  single  view  of  Jhe  practical  effects  of  the  bill  we  are  considering, 
with  the  rate  of  postage  proposed  of  five  cents,  and  see  if  there  is  reason  to 
regard  the  reduction  as  too  great,  or  to  apprehend  that  carrying  letters  will 
be  unprofitable,  and  thereby  throw  the  expense  for  that  part  of  the  service 
upon  the  Treasury. 

I  will  take  the  number  of  letters  now  sent  by  public  and  private  convey- 
ance, based  upon  the  actual  number  carried  in  the  United  States  mail  in 
J836,  together  with  those  hitherto  free,  without  any  addition  from  the  anti- 

^crease  from  a  reduction  of  rates. 

iis  will  give  forty -five  million  of  letters.  The  increase  will,  to  a  small 
extent,  change  the  relative  weight  of  the  letters  and  printed  matter — for 
which  it  may  be  proper  to  add  to  the  cost  of  carrying  the  letters,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  to  that  extent  reduce  the  cost  of 
transportation  of  printed  matter,  (the  whole  cost  of  transportation  remaining 
the  same.)  With  these  alterations  the  account  will  stand  in  this  way : 


10 

For  Letters. 
Transportation  of  forty-five  million  letters,  ^  oz.  each,  16-16ths 

of  a  million  pounds  -       $500,000 

Add  half  of  office  service        -  - 


Total  cost,    $1,000,000 
Amount  of  postage  on  45,000,000  letters,  at  5c.  -      2,250,000 


Excess  of  receipt  over  cost  on  letters,  $1,250,000 
A  profit  of  one  hundred  and  twenty -five  per  cent,  on  the  cost. 

Printed  matter. 

Expense  of  transporting  56,000,000  papers,  pamphlets,  mag- 
azines, &c.,  averaging  \\  oz.  each — (many  are  put  into  the 
mail  wet)— 4f  million  pounds  $2,500,000 

Add  half  of  office  service        -  -  -  -  -         500,000 


Total  cost,    $3,000,000 
Amount  heretof  _>re  received  for  postage  on  printed  matter  500,000 


Showing  an  excess  of  cost  over  the  receipts  of    $2,500,000 
From  which  deduct  the  profit  on  letters  -       1 ,250,000 


Which  shows,  without  any  increase  from  a  reduction  of  postage, 

an  aggregate  deficiency  of  -     $1,250,000 

But  should  it  be  insisted  that  the  expense  ought  to  be  equally  divided  be- 
tween the  written  and  printed  matter,  notwithstanding  the  disparity  in 
weight,  call  each  of  these  two  millions. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  postage  on  letters  exceeds  the  sum  thus  assumed 
as  the  cost  by  $250,000 ;  showing  a  profit  on  that  part  of  the  service  of 
per  cent. ,  and  a  loss  on  the  papers  of  one  and  a  half  million. 

From  these  views  it  appears  that,  however  divided,  the  deficiency  upon 
an  estimate,  without  any  increase  of  the  number  of  letters  from  a 
of  postage,  is  one  and  a  quarter  million,  requiring,  to  enable  the  Department 
to  meet  all  its  expenses,  an  increase  of  a  little  more  than  fifty  per  cent,  on 
the  letters,  or  twenty-five  million  letters. 

This  is  but  one-sixth  the  increase  in  England,  and  not  so  much  as  was 
mated  the  other  day  by  the  Senator  from  New  Hampshire,  (Mr.  WOOD- 
BURY,)  who  stated,  that  in  his  opinion  the  increase  would  be  thirty  millions 


11 

on  account  of  the  reduction.  With  this  increase  the  Department  will  have 
a  surplus. 

But  suppose  there  should  be  no  increase.  We  have  seen  that  all  the  de- 
ficiency is  caused  by  the  carriage  of  newspapers,  pamphlets,  &c.,  at  less  than 
it  costs.  The  loss  on  this  branch  of  the  service  has  not  been  complained  of 
by  any  one.  There  is  no  design  to  diminish  this  or  any  other  part  of  the 
mail  service ;  but  a  general  wish,  in  which  I  participate,  to  see  its  usefulness 
extended. "  But  is  it  proper  to  burthen  the  social  and  business  correspondence 
of  the  country  with  the  loss  sustained  in  disseminating  information  over  the 
country  ?  We  cannot  do  this  if  we  would ;  unless  by  severe  enactments  we 
suppress  all  competition  in  the  profitable  part  of  the  service — letter  carrying. 
For  at  higher  rates  than  that  now  proposed  private  expresses  will  underbid  us. 

What  useful  results  can  be  expected  by  imposing  burthens  upon  letter 
correspondence  to  enable  us  to  make  up  our  loss  in  the  carriage  of  newspa- 
pers ?  Is  not  the  intercourse  of  affection  and  enterprise,  conducted  by  let- 
ters, as  much  the  object  of  regard  for  statesmen  as  the  circulation  of  newspa- 
pers ?  I  think  it  is.  For,  much  as  I  respect  the  character  and  usefulness  of 
many  of  these,  I  cannot  forget  that  in  some  I  have  seen  of  late  there  is  evi- 
dence that  a  sort  of  deleterious  oxyde  comes  off  from  the  types,  which  is  cal- 
culated to  poison  the  fountains  of  social  life !  No  such  injurious  effects  come 
from  letter  writing.  If  there  be  motives  for  incurring  this  expense  and  loss 
to  the  Department,  by  the  circulation  of  newspapers  from  the  geographical 
extent  of  our  country,  there  are  still  stronger  ones  for  the  encouragement  of 
friendly  correspondence  among  our  people.  I  was  struck  with  the  remarks 
made  a  day  or  two  since  by  the  Senator  from  Arkansas,  who  sits  near  me,, 
that  the  danger  of  this  country  was  not  from  without,  but  within  its  borders^ 
from  the  extent  of  the  country  and  the  remote  situations  of  its  people.  It 
was  the  considerations  here  suggested  that  created  apprehensions  for  the  du- 
ration of  our  Union  in  the  minds  of  the  early  patriots  of  the  country.  Our 
geographical  position — States  separated  from  each  other  by  mountains — the 
^natural  tendency  to  division  and  separation — all  require  powerful  counteract- 
influences  to  preserve  us  a  nation.  Such  influences  are  to  be  found  in 
ercourse  of  our  people — that  sort  of  intercourse  which  engages  the  heart 
and  keeps  up  the  connection  between  mind  and  mind  through  the  medium  of 
good  offices,  riot  only  by  acts  of  personal  kindness,  but  such  as  are  carried  on  by 
epistolary  correspondence  among  acquaintances,  and  those  connected  by  affec- 
tion or  kindred,  or  the  relations  of  business.  The  influence  of  all  these  is  indis- 
pensable to  keep  us  a  united  people.  It  is,  therefore,  an  important  object  to  re- 
move the  obstacle  which  expense  interposes  to  their  active  operation.  They 


12 

form  not  only  the  happiest,  but  the  strongest  ties,  by  which  families — so- 
ciety— the  Union  itself — is  held  and  bound  together.  Let  no  man  sup- 
-pose  that  the  expense  forms  no  barrier  to  the  interchange  of  these  friendly  offices 
among  the  people  of  this  country.  Rather  let  him  reflect  that  it  now  costs 
the  value  of  a  bushel  of  wheat  for  a  person  in  Illinois  or  Indiana  to  get  a 
letter  from  a  friend  or  relative  in  the  Eastern  or  Southern  States ;  and  a 
bushel  of  wheat  is  regarded  among  us  as  the  value  of  a  day's  work  for  a 
man.  The  consciousness  that  such  is  the  expense  cannot  fail  to  deter  many 
from  writing  letters ;  and  in  that  way,  and  from  that  cause,  correspondence 
ceases — acquaintance  is  dropped — and  our  people  become  separated  in  feel- 
ing. But  remove  the  expense,  and  you  revive  the  intercourse ;  and  the  re- 
collections it  will  bring  with  it  will  become  more  endeared  by  both  the  dis- 
tance and  time  that  has  intervened. 

Suppose,  sir,  that  the  obstacles  to  intercourse,  now  interposed  by  distance 
and  expense,  were  both  removed ;  that  by  the  use  of  some  such  means  as 
are  afforded  by  the  magnetic  telegraph,  every  parent  who  had  a  child  away 
from  the  family  could  inquire  of  their  welfare,  and  receive  at  once  an  an- 
swer. What  mother  is  there  who  would  not  send  to  her  child  a  message  at 
the  dawn  of  every  morning  ? 

With  these  facilities,  there  would  constantly  circulate  a  current  of  affection 
through  every  inhabited  portion  of  this  extended  country,  producing  such 
harmony  as  has  not  been  witnessed  by  created  beings  since  "  the  morn- 
ing stars  sang  together." 

By  reducing  postage,  we  approximate  this  result ;  could  it  be  fully  realized 
it  can  hardly  be  told  how  trifling  a  charge  upon  each  communication  would 
pay  the  expense  of  our  present  establishment.  We  are  called  upon  by  con- 
stant applications  from  the  people  to  try  to  effect  a  reduction.  Why  should 
we  refuse  to  comply  ? 

We  carry  printed  matter  low,  and  there  has  been  no  complaint — all  per- 
ceive that  in  this  there  is  a  common  benefit — but  they  cannot  desire  that 
this  shall  injure  any  other  branch  of  the  service,  thus  producing  equal  or 
greater  benefits.  It  appears  to  me,  that  the  proper  course  is  to  put 
postage  at  as  low  or  lower  rates  as  others  charge — and  apply  the  pro 
this  branch  of  the  service  to  the  payment  of  the  general  expenses  of  the  De- 
partment— so  long  as  there  is  any  profit,  no  one  will  have  a  right  to  com- 
plain, if  that  profit  is  not  quite  sufficient  to  pay  all  the  loss  incurred  by  dis- 
seminating intelligence  among  the  whole  people. 

The  immediate  question  before  us  then,  involves  the  inquiry  whether  it  is 
best  to  make  a  partial,  or  an  effectual  reduction  at  once  ?  I  think  it  must 


13       . 

be  manifest  that  to  make  only  a  partial  reduction  would  only  diminish  the 
revenue,  because  a  partial  reduction  will  not  command  the  business.  We 
are  now  fast  losing  the  letter  carriage,  which  alone  pays  the  expense  incurred  ; 
while  an  effectual  reduction  will  regain  the  lost  business,  and  an  increase  of 
that  which  is  profitable  will  promise,  at  least,  adequate  support.  If  we  do 
nothing  or  act  inefficiently,  we  cannot  hope  for  it.  The  proposition  is  to 
have  one  rate  for  all  distances.  This  system  being  national  in  its  object — 
it  appears  to  me  the  rate  should  be  uniform — giving  in  comparison  to  the  old 
system  the  greatest  stimulus  to  correspondence  among  the  most  distant.  It 
also  removes  an  objection  to  the  bill  as  it  now  is,  which  is,  that  a  much 
greater  number  can  correspond  with  each  other,  at  the  low  rate,  in  the 
densely  populated  portions  of  the  country,  than  in  those  not  so.  The  single 
rate  places  all  upon  an  equality  ;  so  that,  in  reference  to  the  benefits  it  con- 
fers, we  are  one  people. 

The  present  is  a  favorable  time  to  make  this  alteration.  The  two  politi- 
cal divisions  in  the  country  are  each  represented  by  a  majority  in  the  two 
Houses.  If  the  trial  is  not  a  successful  one,  the  responsibility  will  be  divided. 
If  it  shall  succeed,  (as  I  have  no  doubt  it  will,)  and  shed  its  blessings  upon, 
and  give  satisfaction  to  all  parts  of  our  country,  the  gratification  this  will 
afford  will  be  shared  alike  by  the  two  parties  ;  and  ample  will  it  be  for  us  all. 


